Dr. Yang Guo is an assistant professor in the the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at UMMC. Here, he shares about his path to Mississippi, current role, and future plans.

What is your professional background?

I grew up in Tennessee and completed my undergrad at Vanderbilt University and medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. I completed internal medicine residency and pulmonary critical care fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I stayed on faculty at UMMC after completing my fellowship. 

Tell us about what you do at UMMC.

I am an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. In addition to attending in the medical ICU, I devote a lot of time in the bronchoscopy lab. I developed an interest in interventional pulmonology during my last year of fellowship, and joined Drs. Senitko and Abraham in our Section of Interventional Pulmonology after my fellowship training. We work closely with a multi-disciplinary team and are bringing many advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies to the state of Mississippi. My other clinical interests include treating patients with pulmonary hypertension and I spend additional time in the cardiac catheterization lab to accurately diagnose patients. 

What advice would you give to someone pursuing medicine today?

Believe it or not, medical school and training go by very quickly. Take time to reflect on life and take care of yourselves. Take time to not only grow your knowledge base and skillset, but also your circle of friends and mentors/mentees. 

What do you like most about UMMC?

My PCCM and IM family. I will be in New York for a fellowship in interventional pulmonology next year and will miss everyone dearly. Luckily, everyone is only a phone call or FaceTime away, and I will see y’all again in 2023.

Tell us something about yourself that people may not know.

I was born in Wuhan, China. My hometown has been in the news once or twice over the past few years. Prior to the pandemic, when people asked me where I was from, I would usually have to spend an additional 10-15 seconds explaining to people where Wuhan was. As a historical/present day transportation hub in China, Wuhan has become a melting pot of various cuisines and cultures. Like most people from Wuhan, I am a foodie and still dream once in a while about some of the dishes. I have recently been trying to re-create some of these dishes in hopes of having a “Ratatouille moment” with the help of TikTok.